UMBAI: Life has come full circle for Allahabad-based multi-system operator (MSO) Silverline Entertainment. In a dramatic turn of events, the MSO has got a permanent licence from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) more than a month after its provisional licence was cancelled by the same ministry. The MIB had cancelled Silverline’s provisional licence on 3 September due to denial of security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for allegedly giving false declaration to Bank of Baroda for securing a loan up to Rs 1.43 crore (Rs 14.3 million). Silverline Entertainment proprietor Santosh Gupta told TelevisionPost that he made a representation to the MHA and the MIB seeking reason for not giving security clearance. The MHA reviewed Gupta’s application and subsequently granted security clearance to the MSO.Once the MHA gave the security clearance, the MIB expedited Silverline’s application for permanent licence to operate in digital addressable system (DAS) notified areas of Uttar Pradesh except Agra, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut and Varanasi. The DAS licence has not been granted for Agra, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut and Varanasi as the MSO had previously failed to operationalise the provisional licence in these cities. Gupta is, however, confident that the MIB will grant him licence to operate in these cities as well. “The ministry has asked me to send an application,” he noted. Talking about his network, Gupta said that Silverline has seeded close to 95,000 set-top boxes (STBs) in Allahabad just behind 100,000 STBs seeded by Hathway Cable & Datacom. DEN Networks and Siti Cable have seeded an estimated 50,000 and 25,000 STBs, he added. These figures could not be independently verified by TelevisionPost. Gupta disclosed that he invested Rs 12–15 crore (Rs 120-150 million) in STBs and in setting up a digital headend, while funding came in the form of debt and vendor financing. Silverline has deployed Chinese vendor Newland’s STBs. The conditional access system (CAS) has been provided by Novel SuperTV. With a permanent licence in hand, Gupta plans to spread to other areas in the neighbouring districts of Allahabad. Silverline already operates analogue cable network in Kaushambi and Rae Bareli. “In fact, before the deadline for Phases III and IV was announced, I was getting a lot of requests from LCOs who wanted to join my network as they dread bigger MSOs,” Gupta averred. The registration has been granted for a period of ten years from the date of issue subject to adherence and compliance of the following terms and conditions: (i) The MSO shall comply with all the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Rules made thereunder, as amended; (ii) The MSO shall abide by the rules/regulations/orders/directions/guidelines, etc. issued by the regulatory authority or by the MIB from time to time; (iii) The MSO shall have the capacity to carry minimum number of television channels specified by the authority. MSO shall not carry programming service provided on the channel generated at the level of such multi-system operator which is in violation 6f the Programme Code specified in Rule 6 and the Advertising Code specified in Rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994. (IV) The permission granted above is not transferable; (VI) The MSO shall comply with Foreign Investment Guidelines and conditions thereon for cable TV sector issued by the central government from time to time. (vii) The MSO shall have an independent digital headend of his own and provide digital addressable cable services from his headend; (viii) In areas where DAS has been implemented, the MSO shall operationalise their services with necessary CAS and DAS within six months from the date of issuance of this MSO registration, failing which the registration shall be liable to be revoked/suspended for the cities where it is not implemented; (ix) In areas where DAS has not been implemented, the MSO shall set up digital headend with necessary CAS and DAS in the cable TV Network ‘in any or all the districts of area(s) for which this registration is granted before the notified date’, failing which the registration so granted shall be liable to be revoked/suspended for those areas/districts where it is not implemented; (x) Any change in the board of directors, foreign direct investment and criminal cases would be intimated to the MIB; (xi) The permission is liable to be cancelled in the event of withdrawal of security clearance by the MH Read more at: televisionpost/cable/allahabad-mso-gets-new-lease-of-life-as-mib-grants-permanent-licence/ | TelevisionPost
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 05:52:12 +0000
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